Issue20 sjcnews2013

135 Aphrasia Street Newtown Victoria 3220

St Joseph’s College Geelong

News & Events

Ph: 03 5226 8100 Fax: 03 5221 6983 Email: sjcoffice@sjc.vic.edu.au Web: www.sjc.vic.edu.au

Thursday u s ayy 5 December c b 2013 3 - Issue ssu No o 20

Calendar C alendar of Events

All Students Start Term 1 in 2014 on Monday 3 February Uganda, students, coffee workers and teachers after planting coffee Year 12 Graduation

December 2013 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 2 3 4 9SCHOOL 10 11 16 17 18 SCHOOL 23 24 25 SCHOOL 30 31 SCHOOL

Sat Sun 1 5 SCHOOL 6 7HOLIDAYS 8 12 13 14 15 HOLIDAYS 19 20 21 22 HOLIDAYS 26 27 28 29 HOLIDAYS

HOLIDAYS

College Office closes for Term break

Principal’s Report Dear Parents, Students and Friends of the College, This is the final newsletter for the 2013 school year.Year 7-10 students have been involved with exams this week and preparations are well underway for the 2014 school year.

Two wonderful celebrations took place last week with 1000 guests attending the Year 12 Graduation at the Arena on Wednesday evening followed by the Awards & Music Showcase at Costa Hall on Friday evening. Thank you to all those parents who supported those events and to all of you for your voluntary support throughout 2013.

We currently have students involved in overseas experiences in Italy and Uganda. I am pleased to report that both trips are progressing well and that the students are enjoying the challenges.

Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. I was fortunate last year to be able to visit Bethlehem and the cave where Christ was born. The time of Advent is in some way similar to the expectation of the birth of our own children. A time to slow down, to be excited, to imagine the possibilities of new life, to select a name and make preparations for a new arrival. As parents we have experienced much of this in our own lives and the anticipation is followed by the joy of the birth. I have been lucky enough this year to enter into the experience as a grandparent and it has been just as special in every respect.

I hope that your families enjoy this time of anticipation during Advent and the joy of the birth of the Christ child later in the month. Thank you and God’s blessing for the New Year.

Paul Tobias - Principal Compassion Innovation Integrity

January 2014 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 2 3 4 5 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 27 28 29 30 31 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS College Office opens for 2014 Mass at St Mary’s Booklist collection February 2014

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 3 10 17 24

4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

Sat Sun 1 2 8 9 15 16 22 23

All students return - start Term 1 SJOCA Golf Day Senior Awards ceremony Swimming Carnival Year 10 - VCE parent information night

TERM DATES 2014 Term 1 - Monday 3 February - Friday 4 April Term 2 - Tuesday 22 April - Friday 27 June Term 3 - Wednesday 16 July - Friday 19 September Term 4 - Monday 6 October Years 7-10 - Friday 5 December Year 11 - Friday 28 November*, Year 12 - Tuesday 21 October* * Approximate Class finish date for these year levels only, this does not include dates for exams or Year 12 Orientation Week or Year 12 Graduation.

Classrooms at Westcourt

From the Deputies Yet another year has flown by and it’s incredible to think of how much we have managed to fit in. It only seems like yesterday that we were welcoming 270 or so new Year 7 students on their first day and now we are looking at doing the same for the 300 that are embarking on the secondary education at St Joseph’s in 2014. We are certainly looking forward to introducing them to St Joseph’s in a formal way next Tuesday when they arrive for their Orientation Program. At the same time it was with a touch of sadness but a lot of pride that we farewelled our Year 12 boys for the final time at their Graduation Dinner earlier in the week. We certainly wish these boys every success as they embark on the next stage of their lives.

2014 is the inaugural year of the Year 9 Program at Westcourt. We are looking forward to taking the current Year 8 students to the new Campus next week for their Orientation Day. Following a special Mass in the morning, the boys will be walked to Westcourt, a walk symbolic of the year long journey they are about to begin.

We would like to congratulate all our students for the contributions they have made to their school throughout 2013. Whether it was in the area of performing arts, sport, debating and public speaking, community service or simply doing their best each and every lesson, we thank them for their efforts which have helped to make our College the place it is. Of course none of the students would be able to make such positive contributions without the support of their parents and carers, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting your sons and their school in such a positive manner. We often reflect on how lucky we are to have such tremendous support from our parent body.

IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT UNIFORM 2014 • All students entering Year 11 need to purchase the black VCE jumper.

• The only acceptable shoes are black, lace up leather school shoes with a distinct heel. Please avoid buying street shoes and runners that are often being sold as school shoes as families will be asked to replace them.

• Students in Years 7-10 are able to wear their sports uniform to school on their PE Prac days, however, they must ensure this uniform is complete – only SJC shorts and socks are acceptable and SJC hats should be worn in Terms 1 & 4. Boys should be wearing runners not street shoes.

• Students can elect to wear their summer or winter

Compassion Innovation Integrity

uniform in Term1, however, if they choose their winter uniform they must wear the College tie and blazer.

SOME IMPORTANT DATES IN TERM ONE • Monday February 3 – All students return to school • Tuesday February 11 – Senior Awards ceremony • Wednesday February 12 – SJC Swimming Carnival for Years 7, 8 & 9 students • Tuesday February 18 – Senior School Information Evening (Years 10, 11 & 12) • Wednesday March 5 – Ash Wednesday Liturgy • Friday March 7 – House Athletics Day • Thursday March 20 – Edmund Rice Day • Thursday April 3 & Friday April 4 – Parent/Student/ Teacher interviews • Thursday April 3 – Final day of term one classes for students Finally we would like to wish all families a safe and festive Christmas period and we look forward to working closely with you all again in 2014.

Claire Brown & Paul Clohesy - Deputy Principals

Curriculum News AWARDS AND MUSIC SHOWCASE The Awards and Music Showcase celebrating the musical talent and academic achievements of our students in Year 7-10, as well as the contributions of some of our senior students in the areas of drama and music, was held last Friday at Costa Hall. Congratulations to the students who were recognised on this evening as well as the many students who participated in the performances. Thank you also to the staff who spent many hours preparing for this evening and working with the students to make this evening a success. I would like to thank particularly the talented staff involved in the Performing Arts; as well as Linda Bentley, Dan Hale, Simon Taylor, Andrew Scaddan for their assistance working with the students in their respective year levels; Shane Dawson for the printing of the certificates; Holly McIntosh for the ticket sales and a big thank you to Natasha Solczaniuk for her wonderful organisation of the event.

I would like to wish all families a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. We look forward to seeing all of our students back at SJC on Monday 3 February 2014.

REPORTS AND EXAMINATIONS The exam period for all students has finished and teachers have been busy marking exams and reporting on this final assessment. Results of all assessment tasks including exams will be available on the Parent Access Module on Friday 13 December. Please email helpdesk@sjc.vic.edu.au if you need assistance in accessing PAM. To access individual assessment results and comments, you will need to click on “Learning Areas/ Display Learning Area Task Summary”.

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textbooks and are located at 9 Star St (just around the corner from their old location).

With the increasing use of electronic texts and access codes, the purchase of second hand textbooks is not as straight forward as it has been in the past. As a general rule, electronic texts only last for one year and therefore cannot be purchased from another student. Oxford textbooks can be purchased second hand and students can reactivate codes. Cambridge Maths textbooks can be purchased second hand but a Hot Maths licence/ code must be purchased new. These can be purchased at Landmark.

From this page you can click on each subject to access individual results.

The Semester Report can be accessed and downloaded from PAM also.

The report is a summary of results received in Semester 2, 2013 and will be available on line at the end of term. It includes • Information on a student’s work habits (effort and behaviour in class) • Percentage results of major assessment tasks • A graphical representation that shows achievement against the expected AusVELS standard during the reporting period • A five-point A–E scale indicating achievement against the expected standard at the time of reporting – this scale indicates if a child is well above, above, at, below or well below the standard expected at the time of reporting.

BOOKLISTS – GENERAL INFORMATION Booklists for all students currently in Year 8-11 have been distributed with re-enrolment forms. Allocated subjects for next year will also be sent with this information package.

Booklists are also available on line. Books and stationery can be ordered at www.elandmark.com.au The passcode is YV28. Alternatively, students can submit the order at the front office by Tuesday 10 December 2013. Please note that due to many students losing access codes in previous years, electronic textbooks can only be ordered online.

Families will also have the option of home delivery or pick up at school.

Booklist orders can be home delivered or collected from the College, Br O S Adams Gymnasium (Queens Road) on Thursday 30 January 2014.

Years 7-9 Years 10-12 All

8.00am – 12.00noon 12.30am – 4.30pm 5.00pm – 6.00pm

SECONDHAND BOOKS Secondhand School Supplies www.secondhandschoolsupplies. com.au can also be used for the purchase of second hand

Families can drop off any textbooks to Secondhand School Supplies to be sold on consignment. A nominated account will be credited when the books are sold VCE ENGLISH TEXTS 2014 Year 11 and 12 students have had an opportunity to order and receive their English texts (such as a movie and novels) before the holidays begin. We would appreciate the support of parents and guardians in encouraging students to read these texts during the holidays, ready for the start of the 2014 school year. As a suggestion, parents reading the texts themselves and having a chat with their son about the main ideas or favourite characters may help students to have more interest in the text.

BOOKLIST ORDERS FOR STUDENTS STUDYING AT SACRED HEART COLLEGE For students studying a VCE subject at SHC in 2014, orders can be placed through the Hedley’s website www.hedleysebc.com.au or through the SHC website/news section. Second hand books and equipment may also be obtained using the Sustainable School Shop on their website: http://www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au The booklist will be available online. Orders filled by Hedleys can be collected on Tuesday 28 January and Wednesday 29 January 2014.

Surnames A- M 10am - 1pm Surnames N - Z 1.30 - 4pm.

BOOKLIST ORDERS FOR STUDENTS STUDYING AT CLONARD COLLEGE IN 2014 For students studying a VCE subject at Clonard College in 2014, orders can be placed through the Landmark website http://www.elandmark.com.au/ • Click on Place your booklist order • Submit the code F83S • Books can be home delivered or picked up at Clonard College. Dates and times are on the booklist.

• Alternatively families can purchase their books at Landmark BOOKLIST ORDERS FOR SHC AND CLONARD STUDENTS STUDYING AT ST JOSEPH’S COLLEGE IN 2014 Books and stationery can be ordered using the same system as SJC students. Please see general information above.

Michelle Brodrick - Director of Curriculum

www.sjc.vic.edu.au

ICT News EREA Year 10 Exchange Program On November the 20th Xavier McKeegan and Michael McAuliffe had the opportunity to travel to St Pius X College in Chatswood, Sydney. We were part of an EREA student program. The program lasted a full week, with two of their boys coming to St Joseph’s and experiencing exactly what college life was like here in Geelong, and then us going to Sydney to do the same.

During our exchange in Sydney, we experienced the real city life, as the school was in the middle of Sydney, we caught the train to school, and we definitely experienced Sydney traffic whilst there. We both found that the school was quite small, compared to St Joseph’s and that there were far less students at the college. They had almost the exact same equipment, resources and technology as St Joseph’s, despite the fact that they probably had 1/3 of the room. They did have a separate campus, which was equipped with 2 full sized cricket ovals, but that was some distance from the main campus.

We stayed with the families of the two boys who came to St Josephs for the duration of our stay in Sydney.

During our stay we saw all of the city including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and we even got to go swimming at Manly Beach. However we both agree that the highlight of our trip was on the last day, when we all went jet boating on the harbour. It was an exhilarating ride and a lot of fun!

We both had an excellent time in Sydney, experiencing the city life, and being able to see an Edmund Rice school in action, it was an amazing opportunity bestowed upon us.

We would like the thank St Joseph’s, St Pius X College and the families who looked after us on our stay.

Michael McAuliffe & Xavier McKeegan - Year 10 Students

ARRANGEMENTS FOR STUDENT LAPTOPS All laptops must be returned before students leave for their summer break. During the summer break we reimage all student laptops with new software, fix warranty problems and repair major damage.

All files need to be backed up at home. The computers will be wiped completely and reimaged for 2014.

Any student leaving or going on holidays before the end of the school year must return laptop, power adaptor and bag to the ICT Centre before they leave.

• 2013 Year 9 students receive a new laptop in 2014 but must return their old laptops before the end of school this year. These will be prepared for keeping and returned in the first week of Term 1, 2014 • 2014 Year 10 students can collect laptops at the library from Monday 13 Jan 2014 • all other 2014 year levels can collect laptops from the Gym when they collect their books on Thursday 30 January and Friday 31 January NEW STUDENTS 2014 • collection and Training session Thursday 30 January 2014 – 8.45am-11.00am • assemble at 8.30am in the quadrangle PARENT INFORMATION EVENING Wednesday 5 February 2013 • 7.00pm Laptop Information Evening for parents who are new to the school.

All Handbooks and related information can be found on our website: http://www.sjc.vic.edu.au/learning-Student-Computer-Program BELOW THE BELT: SEX, SELFIES AND CYBERBULLYING Below the Belt is a free Android phone app for young people that has information about laws on: • sex and consent • sending sexy pics (sexting) • cyberbullying.

For more information go to Legal Aid Victoria - http://www. legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legal-answers/sex-and-law/resources/ below-belt-sex-selfies-and-cyberbullying Chris Valmadre - Director ICT

Compassion Innovation Integrity

Congratulations Welcome 2014 Year 7 Students!

Attached is a letter from Year 7 student, Samuel Brethouwer.

His class wrote a set of letters for the 2014 Year 7s arriving for their orientation day next week.

Dear 2014 Year 7 Student, Welcome to St Joseph’s, I’m Sam and I was a Year 7 student at St Joseph’s during 2013.

I was as nervous as the rest of the boys when I was starting St Joseph’s, with all the books, big uniforms and huge students. But as intimidating as I thought it was, St Joseph’s was very welcoming and made me feel like I belong and I’m sure they will welcome you too.

As you start the year I think you should look forward to all the new people you’ll meet, the specialist subjects like Sport or Art and especially the excursions and activity days like Beach Bonanza and Edmund Rice Day. Advice that I would give you for the year ahead is to be yourself and enjoy every opportunity to have fun that St Joseph’s has organised for you, and make your Year 7 experience count.

Good Luck, Sam.

Well done to all of the students who entered this year’s Inter-House Cooking Competition in Term 4, with the successful entrants selected to represent their House in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11. They impressed the judges with their excellent skills and performance on the day. Thank you to Brendan Nicholls and Jake Sykes (Year 12) for judging the competition and their encouragement of the students.

Congratulations to all of the boys on their fantastic efforts and the overall results were Foley and Jordan tied for first place, followed by Butler and then Brophy. The final words on the issue were best summed up by a new entrant in the annual contest…“Cooking is fun!” - Sam Morrison (Year 8).

COMPETITION RESULTS: Year 8: 1st Will Pile (Jordan), 2nd Michael Bongiorno (Butler), 3rd Jackson Kos (Brophy), 4th Sam Morrison (Foley) Year 9: 1st Chad Suphamongkol (Jordan) Year 10: 1st Riley Walter (Butler), 2nd Adam O’Hara (Foley), 3rd Cooper Grech (Jordan) Year 11: 1st Vincent Ballesteros (Brophy), 2nd Tuan Tran (Foley), 3rd Angel Taravillo (Butler) Cassandra Coogan - Materials Technology Coordinator The Chapel Circa 1960’s

Year 9 Work Experience 2014 Current Year 9 students have been asked for find and confirm their work experience placements for 2014, before the end of the 2013 school year. If your son hasn’t already organised a work experience placement, or handed in his Yellow Work Experience arrangement Form, can you please remind his to do so as soon as possible. For more information regarding work experience, please contact Karen at the Careers Office.

Karen Shum - Careers Coordinator

Heritage Highlights

General Office - Christmas Break Please note that the College office will close on Thursday 19 December and will reopen on Monday 6 January 2014.

Zara Walter – Office Manager

My first year as College Archivist is almost over; it has been a very busy and eventful year. Thank you for the positive feedback I have been getting about the photograph’s and articles in the Newsletter, I hope I can continue to find great photos to share. Thank you to everyone who has supported and advised me I appreciate you help. Thank you to, Lisa Brown-Benson, Sharon Bolger, Elizabeth Jess, Liz McMahon and Terry Phillips; with your help many boxes have been sorted.

Susan Belluzzo - College Archivist www.sjc.vic.edu.au

The Careers BLOG Goes Worldwide!

Year 7 Super 8s Cricket

Year 8 Super 8s Cricket

Super 8s Cricket On 24 October, five Year 7 and 8 cricket teams represented St Joseph’s College in the Barwon region Super 8’s. The day was held at South Barwon Reserve and the boys played their hardest against other schools in a large region even featuring schools from Colac and Apollo bay. Our strongest Year 7 and 8 teams made the final against Trinity College Colac. Both teams won against a strong Trinity outfit and progressed to the Western Regional Finals held at Melton.

On 19 November, the two winning teams headed to Melton bright and early in the morning hoping to win the stage and play in the state finals on the MCG the following week. The Year 8 team played their first game against Braemar College, unfortunately losing to the eventual winners of the day by 20 runs in a great match. The Year 7 cricketers played really well throughout the day winning all three games to progress into the grand final later in the day. The boys played very well in the Grand Final against Warrnambool College through some excellent bowling and fielding. However, with the Year 7s needing three runs to win off the very last ball, they were unable to do so gifting Warrnambool College passage to the state finals on the MCG. All of the boys who played on both days should be congratulated on their efforts. I would like to thank all the teachers who helped throughout the journey especially Mr Hale who organised it all. Other thanks go to James Goldsworthy and Liam Cogan on coaching the boys very well throughout both days.

Yours in cricket, Andrew McNeel - Super 8 Cricket Captain – Year 8 Compassion Innovation Integrity

From the very beginning of the creation of the Careers Blog, the decision was made to allow this resource to be viewed from outside of the school Intranet. I wanted to make sure that students could still access information to help them with their career development whilst away from school, and later, after they had graduated from St Joseph’s. I also wanted their families, and the wider SJC Community, to have access to up to date careers information, easily, if ever it was needed.

What I didn’t expect was the worldwide interest!

The Careers Blog is the central hub for information dissemination and sharing from the St Joseph’s College Careers Office. It is maintained and updated by Kirsty, Jarrod and Karen (me). It contains advice on finding work, writing resumes, taking a gap year, plan b options, upcoming events, university and TAFE information, scholarships, a weekly Careers News Bulletin, and much more! Information can be shared to the school community, and the world, in an instant. Files and documents, pictures and videos, can also be shared with others. The Blog lists many links to web sites to undertake career and work investigation, to calculate an ATAR as well and sourcing information on further educational pathway options.

After receiving emails from people around the globe commenting on the Careers Blog, or seeking advice, in mid November, I added a Flag Counter to the Blog to track the visitors. The Flag Counter can be found at the very bottom of the first page on the Careers Blog. So far, the Blog has had visitors from 27 different countries and over 2700 page views. The majority of visitors originate from Australia; however, there are also quite a few people from the United States viewing the Blog.

When searching for a ‘Careers Blog’ on Google, the SJC Careers Blog features in the top three most days. It is wonderful to know that something created at the College to benefit our students and our school community is also being used by others further afield. A recent comment from Fatima said: “Hi! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on.You have done an outstanding job!”

If your son, your family, or yourself, is seeking careers information and help, please visit the Careers Blog. If you would like to leave a comment or provide any suggestion or feedback you are definitely very welcome!

Karen Shum - Careers Coordinator

White Ribbon Day On 11 November a number of Year 8 leaders participated in a netball tournament with girls from Clonard College.

The tournament was created to bring awareness to men’s treatment towards women. Before the tournament we listened to a guest speaker, Peter Kelly from the White Ribbon community and learnt some horrific statistics about abuse and violence from males towards women.

After the speaker had finished we were divided up into mixed teams and played for the Inaugural White Ribbon Shield which was won by the yellow team. It was a fun day and everyone learnt something new about the importance of stopping violence against women.

For more information please see the Media Release at http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/ct/news/ item/8d0ad9695821996.aspx Michael Bongiorno - Year 8 Student Leader Dan Hale - Year 8 Coordinator

To be Catholic is to be a Community Jesus didn’t send us into our homes to prayer and worship alone. He invited us to share in the Word of God and the Bread of Life with others. He sent the Apostles into the world with the Spirit as their guide to evangelise to others.

Being Catholic is about how we love in relationship with others, our loved ones, our neighbours, even our enemies.

Concepts of solidarity and community are integral to this love of others.

Recently, our College community was asked to be Catholic in this way when members of our community were hurting. While the Philippines is many thousands of miles away, and most of us know little of its culture, traditions and geography, Joshua Neri (Year 10), supported by past and present students, asked us to assist the people in the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Joshua recalled how difficult it was when his family hadn’t heard from their relatives for a number of days after the Typhoon. He has experienced growing up with important family members missing from his life and didn’t want this to be experienced by others. Joshua and his friends asked for the help of our community.

In an overwhelmingly generous way, students, families and staff donated to our Philippines appeal through the “High Five” Casual Day. $4500 was raised on just this one day.

As the College is matching this amount, the total being donated through Caritas is $9000. This will go a long way to providing shelter, cooking kits and medical aid to the survivors of this disaster and also ensure that they will not feel forgotten by those who live in more stable environments.

Sustainability Matters BARWON WASTE WISE, BOTANICAL GARDENS AND WOMBAT GULLY EXCURSION On Thursday 21 November, eight of our Sustainability Leaders across Years 7 to 9, embarked on a day long Sustainability adventure, encompassing an immersion into recycling industries around Geelong and culminating in a Botanical experience at the Botanical Gardens and Wombat Gully Nursery.

After an educative experience relating to the recycling processes of the Douro Street Transfer station and GDP Industries, the students selected herb species from the Wombat Gully Nursery, for their up and coming “Garden bed - Water station” project and the new Carbon Management room for the Trade Training Centre. I would like to congratulate all boys who participated for their wonderful conduct and involvement in the day’s events.

In building the Kingdom of God here on earth, we have been challenged to find Jesus in our modern world.

Through the scriptures, we learn that we will find the Son of God with the hungry, the naked, the sick. Most recently the face of Jesus has been Filippino. Through our generous response to the request from our present and past students, we have been a truly Catholic community to those here in our midst and those many miles away.

Jo Hart - Director of Mission and Identity

VCE English Texts 2014 Year 11 and 12 students have had an opportunity to order and receive their English texts (such as a movie and novels) before the holidays begin. We would appreciate the support of parents and guardians in encouraging students to read these texts during the holidays, ready for the start of the 2014 school year. As a suggestion, parents reading the texts themselves and having a chat with their son about the main ideas or favourite characters may help students to have more interest in the text.

Margot Davies

Kelly Jenkins - Sustainability Coordinator www.sjc.vic.edu.au

Indigenous Secondary School Scholarship Program Congratulations to Year 9 student Waadhi Conole,who has been awarded a VicRoads Indigenous Secondary School Scholarship for 2014-2016. Waadhi is a deserving recipient of this award. He has been involved in many school activities particularly as a musician and leader.

The VicRoads Indigenous Secondary School Scholarship program is a broader initiative of the Indigenous Employment Program which aims to help raise the VCE completion rate of Indigenous students. The scholarship provides up to $3,600 financial assistance to recipients and is available to Aboriginal students approaching Years 10, 11 or 12 and studying in Victoria. Application forms provide eligibility criteria information and are available during Term 1 each school year and close late July for scholarships commencing at the beginning of the following school year. Forms are widely distributed throughout secondary schools and Aboriginal community organisations in Victoria.

You can also request application forms by contacting the Indigenous Employment Team per the details below.

Phone: 9854 2967 Email: indigenous.employment@roads.vic.gov.au – please indicate how many forms you require, address/contact details and if you wish to be listed permanently on our mail list. Please see the link for further information on the scholarship and employment programs: http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Employment/ IndigenousEmploymentProgram.htm

Year 10 Bats, Balls, Clubs and Coaching Class excursion On 20 November our class visited Christ the King Primary School in Newcomb to deliver a cricket coaching session in groups of two. We were there to teach the Grade 6 kids about cricket skills and complement the coaching work we had been doing in class.

During this lesson my partner Tom Lang and I had some teaching goals that we wanted to meet. Those goals were to make sure that the kids had fun, they learnt something, and wanted to play cricket again. We ran them through a couple of drills before finishing with a modified game. I think that we definitely met those goals as every student said that they had enjoyed their time playing as well as saying that they had learnt something new if it was a new technique or skill.

It was a great opportunity to put the theory of coaching into practice.

Max Hurley - Year 10

WANT TO GET INVOLVED AT SJC? St Joseph’s has a great history of parental involvement.

The fundraising associated with some events and the funds saved through voluntary work are essential to the running of the College. Whilst it is understandable that some parents may feel hesitant about being involved, you can all make a real contribution in a variety of ways.

New parents are especially welcome at the College, every effort will be made to make you feel at home.

FILL OUT YOUR PARENT PARTICIPATION FORM ONLINE AT:

http://www.sjc.vic.edu.au/community-parents_and_friends www.sjc.vic.edu.au

what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make you tomorrow.

De Chardin and Advent We have just begun the religious season of Advent.

The theme of Advent is all about waiting – waiting for Christmas when we celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world, and also waiting for Jesus to come again at the end of time. The first one is straightforward enough, but the second one is a bit harder to deal with! The end of time?

It conjures up images of earthquakes, meteors and Tom Cruise movies! But nevertheless, Christians are called to stop and ponder how the world is not yet perfect. Even though Jesus came all those years ago to help us and show us a better way to live, still there is so much of “man’s inhumanity to man”. Jesus continues to be with us in a spiritual way, to help us on our journey to try to make the world a better place. But it can be frustrating when we recognise that even in our own lives that it can be hard to make the little changes of attitude or perspective that make us better people. When I sense this frustration in myself, I often turn to some words written many years ago by a French priest called Teilhard de Chardin. I kept a tattered photocopy of his words for years, but now I can just search for them on the internet! Maybe his few words below might resonate with you too.

God bless all our Newsletter readers, and Happy Christmas.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955)

LOTE Italy Trip We would like to wish Ms Giacomazzo and the boys in Year 10 and 11 Italian a safe trip to Italy. They departed Melbourne on 29 November for a three week adventure.

Their first week will be a homestay in Milan while attending school, and then they will travel from Venice to Rome. Some of the cities they will visit on their travels will be Siena, Assisi, Padua and Perugia.

Good luck and Buon viaggio ragazzi.

To all our students Buon Natale!!

LOTE department

Tiny Teddies Thank You Thanks to the families who generously donated teddies for Uganda. The many teddies have been vacuum packed, along with other donations, so that we can use every kilogram of our 300kg luggage allowance. On behalf of the children of Uganda, a huge thanks to you all.

Carmen Ahearn - Teacher

John Harmon - Chaplaincy and Liturgy Coordinator Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new, and yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stage of instability – and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.

Your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today Compassion Innovation Integrity

In Sympathy Mrs Lena Baverstock (80 years), grandmother of Ryan Baverstock (Year 11).

Mr Alec Lane (96 years) of Swanhill, father/father-inlaw of Greg and Sharon Lane (College Co Care Group Coordinator), grandfather of Alexandra (past student SHC), Lachlan (Old Collegian 2009), Jacob (Year 12) and Georgia (Grade 4 Star of the Sea Primary School).

Mrs Dorothy McKinnon, following ongoing illness, grandmother of Declan (Year 11) and Angus McKinnon (Year 8).

Mrs Joan Bowman, mother /mother-in-law of Gavan and Julie Prendergast (past Staff Member, Board Member and parent), grandmother of Patrick (2004), Xavier (2006), Thomas (2008) and Mary-Kate (SHC).

Our hearts go out to you all as we pray “That God will welcome these faithfully departed into His loving arms. And that precious memories will be of comfort to those left behind, knowing that their love will live on in their hearts forever.”

GRE

AT GIF CHRIS T ID TMA EA! S

www.sjc.vic.edu.au